The Charm of Daffodils

On April 15, 1802, the poet William Wordsworth and his sister were enjoying a spring walk through the hills when they came across a field of daffodils (水仙花). William decided there was nothing for it but to write a poem, which he published in its final     1     in 1815. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud is, to some people, the most famous     2     on the power of nature —

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

Long     3     as a common field flower, unworthy of serious attention by the artist, poet or gardener, the daffodil enjoyed a revival thanks in part to Wordsworth’s poem. Today, it’s easy to     4     the daffodil for we can find it almost everywhere, in gardens or in art.

The daffodil originated in the ancient Mediterranean, where people associated them with the idea of death and life. Its scientific name comes from the story of Narcissus, a handsome youth falling in love with his own image. The gods     5     him immortality (永生) as a daffodil to save him from death. But it isn’t only Mediterranean cultures that have concentrated on the daffodil’s     6     power of life and death. A variety of the daffodils     7     along the Silk Road to China. There, the flower appeared to express not only the happy     8     of spring, but also other painful emotions such as loss.

The English botanist John Parkinson introduced the traditional yellow variety from Spain in 1618. Aided by a wet but temperate climate, daffodils quickly spread across lawns and fields, causing its     9     origins to be forgotten. By the 19th century they had become     10     British — so much that traders planted bucketfuls of bulbs wherever they went.

3 . A weather map is an important tool for geographers. A succession of three or four maps presents continuous picture of weather changes. Weather forecasters are able to determine the speed of air masses and fronts (冷暖空气团接触的锋) to determine whether an individual pressure area is deepening or becoming shallow and whether a front is increasing or decreasing in intensity. They are also able to determine whether an air mass is retaining its original characteristics or taking on those of the surface over which it is moving. Thus, a most significant function of the map is to reveal a summary picture of conditions in the atmosphere at a given time.

All students of geography should be able to interpret a weather map accurately. Weather maps contain an enormous amount of information about weather conditions existing at the time of observation over a large geographical area. They reveal in a few minutes what otherwise would take hours to describe. The United States Weather Bureau issues information about approaching storms, floods, frosts and all climatic conditions in general. Twice a month it issues a 30-day “outlook” which is a rough guide to weather conditions likely to occur over broad areas of the United States. These 30-day outlooks are based upon an analysis of the upper air levels which often set the stage for development of air masses, fronts and storms.

Considerable effort is being exerted today to achieve more accurate weather predictions. With the use of electronic instruments and satellites, enormous gains have taken place recently in identifying and tracking storms over regions which have but few meteorological stations (气象站). Experiments are also in progress for weather modification (改变) studies. But the limitations of weather modification have prevented meteorological results except in the seeding of super-cooled, upslope mountainous winds which have produced additional orographic (山岳形态) precipitation on the windward side of mountain ranges. Nevertheless, they have provided a clearer understanding of the fundamentals of weather elements.

4 . Nothing compares with the joy of coming home to a lovely pet. Besides keeping one company, pets may also decrease stress, improve heart health, and even help children with their social skills. Over the past 10 years, researchers have been looking at what the possible effects are.

Animals can offer comfort and support. Dogs are especially good at this. They’re sometimes brought into hospitals or nursing homes. Ann Berger, a researcher at the NIH Clinical Center, teaches the patients with serious diseases about mindfulness to help decrease stress and manage pain. “Mindfulness includes attention, awareness, etc.,” Berger says, “all those are things that animals bring to the table. People kind of have to learn it, while animals do this innately.” Researchers are also studying the safety of bringing animals into hospital settings because animals may bring people more germs (病菌). A current study is looking at the safety of bringing dogs to visit children with a certain kind of illness. Scientists will be testing the children’s hands to see if there are dangerous levels of germs brought by the dog after the visit.

Dogs may also help in the classroom. One study found that dogs can help children with ADHD, a disease related to attention. Researchers divided children with ADHD into two groups. The first group of kids read to dogs once a week for 30 minutes. The second group read to toys like dogs. After 12 weeks, kids who read to the real animals showed better social skills. They also had fewer behavioral problems. “Animals can become a way of building a bridge for the social communication,” says Griffin, a child development expert at NIH. He adds that researchers are trying to better understand these effects and whom they might help.

While pets may bring many health advantages, an animal may not work for everyone. Recent studies suggest that living with pets at an early age may help protect young children from developing allergies (过敏), but for people who are allergic to certain animals, having pets in the home can do more harm than good.

Researchers will continue to explore the many effects of having a pet. They are trying to find out what’s working, what’s not working, and what’s safe.

Deadly virus approaches tigers

India’s most important tiger conservation body is to investigate growing concern that Asia’s wild tigers are     1     to a deadly new disease.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority is to fun d a study of Canine Distemper Virus(CDV) in six of the most important areas for the species, which could confirm a problem that a few experts have     2    for a number of years.

There have been     3    of CDV in wild tigers in other areas. According to Dr Dale Miquelle of the Wildlife Conservation Society, quite a few tigers were either killed or seriously affected by a disease that was probably CDV in 2010. And the Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve has also reported a(n)     4     decline in tiger numbers.

CDV may also exist in the tiger population in Sumatra, where animals have been reported to be behaving     5    and losing their fear of humans.

Dr John Lewis of the British charity Wildlife Vets International is helping the Sumatran    6    to fight the risk by training local vets in what he calls “the world’s first tiger- disease monitoring program”.

Lewis also believes that the way CDV changes tigers’ behavior could be a factor where tiger- human     7    are an issue. This could be true of the Sundarbans, a large area shared by India and Bangladesh where man-eating is spreading.

Perhaps we should not be surprised that tigers are     8    with CDV. In 2004, it killed 1,000 lions in the Serengeti in Tanzania, and as wildlife reserves are    9    surrounded by people with dogs, the problem is only likely to get worse.

But as Miquelle told BBC Wildlife, “Very few people were aware of the potential threat, let alone looking for it, even if it is     10    in the system. But at least now they are.”

Go Recycling

No one looking at the state of Earth in 2023 can be in any doubt that we are facing three serious environmental problems: climate problem, loss of biodiversity (生物多样性) and pollution of air, soil and water. To solve the problems, we increase the use of electric cars,     1     greener eating and reduce plastic use. However, sometimes these solutions can be opposite to the expected goals. For instance, creating space for biofuel crops to give off fewer pollutants and greenhouse gases can, in fact,     2     increase the cutting down of trees. That means in most cases solutions aiming at one problem each time are     3     to be effective. And, what is perhaps lacking is a(n)     4     of how interlinked these problems are.

We should realize that a key     5     linking all the three problems is waste. The root cause of global warming is CO₂, a waste gas. The seas are polluted by plastic and other waste products. We     6     forests, among other things, to grow more food — much of which goes to waste.

A shocking figure lies at the heart of our special report on our world — of the more than 100 billion tons of things that humans use each year, hardly 10% is recycled. That makes it obvious a full-range war on waste should be paid     7     attention. The situation requires our speedy moving away from the way of thinking — “take, make, throw” — towards a more recyclable one, which means we should begin     8     the products and when they reach the end of their useful lives, they can be recycled.

Solving the three problems calls for a huge transition with joint efforts. Governments must take the lead by introducing laws with the purpose of rewarding green practices, such as the     9     of waste. Industries can reduce, re-use and recycle wherever possible, and     10     themselves with suppliers and the like-minded to realize recyclable business models.